■ Current Measures to Build a Green Economy
in Central AfricaTransitioning to a green economy requires strong political will from the States. At the sub regional level, there are already some measures which show promising prospectsfor a green economy in the sub region.
The Yaounde Declaration (1999) adopted during the Conference of Central African Heads of State and the Treaty on Central African Forest Ecosystem Conservation and Management of 5 February 2005, demonstrate the will of the sub region's heads of State to sustainably manage forest ecosystems.
Beyond these general provisions, the Declaration of ECCAS ministers on 1 the development and promotion of a green Transitioning into a green economy in Centra] Africa ^^ iUus_
economy requires strong political° *_**,.■*trates the interest States have in this new4 ^ * u ■
*i.-will from the States. . , , „ „ ,.
economic model (box 3.1).
Hopefully such commitments will be effectively followed by concrete ac tion and signatory States will respect their financial, material and human commitments.
Central African countries are expected to put in extra efforts in land policy formulation. In this area, legal pluralism (written and customary law) still maintains vagueness and conflicts. The rights of local communities are not taken into account, especially concerning forest concessions: efforts have
Box 3.1 Declaration of ECCAS Ministers on the Development and Promotion of a Green Economy
Signed in Brazzaville on 16 May 2012, this declaration acknowledges hat, inter alia, Central Africa, in spite of its potential in renewable energy, is still facing acute energy shortages; more specifically, it consi ders the need to promote and develop a green economy to support Central Africa in its efforts to combat climate change and desertifica tion as well as the region's need to develop enterprises to create green jobs. This declaration is proof of the strong commitments by the parties to support a transition intoa green economy. If centres on the need to:
- adopt concrete measures to favour the transition from conventional economies into a green economy in Central Africa through sustained actions in reforestation, forestation, ecotourism promotion, eco-constructton, waste management, draining, renewable energies, figh ting climate change and desert encroachment,notobly the drying up of Lake Chad;
- introduce institutional, judicial and participatory mechanisms on green economy development and promotion by designing the ne cessary land allocation and investment plans in key sectors like fores try, energy, infrastructure, mines, agriculture and livestock rearing.
Source: ECCAS, Conference des ministres de la CEEAC sur I'economieverte en Afriquecentrale,
Brazzaville, 14-16 May 2012
Ifthe necessary and urgent reforms to clarify the status of lands are not un dertaken, it will be difficult for African countries to move towards a green economy. In fact, the implementation of programmes like REDD+ and the development of bio fuels, etc., depend on a coherent land allocation policy.
Legally speaking, like any humanactivity, a green economy must be within an appro priate normative framework. It should be noted that CentralAtrican States do not yet have legal instruments s
pecifically applicable in a green economy.
Nevertheless, there are some laws and conventions which can influence the It should be noted that Central African States do not yet have legal instruments specifically ap plicable to a green economy.
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At the international level, there are: (i) the Convention on Biological Di versity (CBD) signed in 1992 and ratified in 1994 which affirms that the conservation of biological diversity is a common concern of humankind and stresses the need to promote international, regional and global coope ration among States and inter-governmental organisations and the non-go vernmental sector for the conservation of biological diversity and the sustainable use of its components (preamble); (ii) the United Nations Fra mework Convention on Climate Change (...); (iii) the 1994 Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) which aims at combating desertification and/or mitigating the effects of drought (preamble) by encouraging sub re gional, regional and international cooperation and coordination in this sec tor; (iv) there are several other agreements to preserve tropical heritages, such as the International Tropical Timber Agreement which primarily aims at promoting sustainable tropical forest management by facilitating the ef fective organisation of international cooperation and policy development among all members with regard to all relevant aspects of the world timber economy (Article 1).
Most ECCAS member countries have ratified the aforementioned conven tions and amended their own laws to align with them.
In 2002, the Democratic Republic of Congo enacted a new Forestry Code which is a reference framework for the different actions contributing to the sustainable use of resources. This new Forestry Code lays down the condi tions and modalities to classify and declassify protected areas. Efforts to plan this sector mainly concerned national park management. A manage ment plan for tourism development and protected areas was drawn up in
1995. Protected areas in DRC comprise: national parks, biosphere reserves, forest reserves, hunting grounds, zoos and botanic gardens.
In Cameron, the forest and environment policy defined by Law No. 94/1 of 20 January 1994 relating to the regime of forestry, wildlife and fisheries, and the 1996 Framework Law on Environmental Management, define po litical and strategic guidelines in which one of the main elements is ensuring the protection of the forest, thereby participating in safeguarding the envi ronment and preserving biodiversity. There is a vision to create permanent forest land which would represent 30% of the national territory and a na tional network of protected areas representative of the country's biodiver sity. Apart from these 1994 laws which emphasise sustainable development
sions provide that any major project will undergo environmental impact as sessments before being undertaken.
In Congo, nature conservation is governed by the following laws, decrees and ordinances: Law No. 16-2000 of 20 November 2000 on the Forestry Code, Law No. 16/1993 of26 August 1993 on Environment Protection and Improvement. The "AgenceNationale des ParcsNationaux" (ANPN), crea ted by the law on national parks to replace the "Conseil National des Parcs Nationaux" (CNPN), is in charge of managing protected areas (IUCN-PAPACO,2010).
In CAR, authorities in charge ofthe environment formulated a national pro gramme to combat desertification, adopted in 1991 and revised in 2002.
This programme fosters raising the awareness ofpeople on the urgent need to protect nature, build stakeholder capacities in combating desertification and on the need to carry out studies on climate change. It also recommends the training of several awareness-raising agents on combating desertifica tion. This programme is supported by the UNDP.
In Gabon, some activities relating to the sub-soil, forest, wildlife, flora and fisheries are subjected to environment protection. This sector is governed by the Framework Law of26 August 1993: the Environment Code, supple mented by other specific instruments like Law No. 16-01 of 31 December 2001: Forestry Code. Currently, the challenge of "Green Gabon", one of the pillars of the government's policy making, is to position the country as apioneer in what is considered as one of the major challenges of the 21st Century: global efforts to preserve the environment and combat global war ming. This pillar will rest on the valorisation of the 22 million hectares of forest, farmland and the 800 kilometres of maritime littoral. Gabon has de dicated 11 % of its territory to national parks in order to participate in the global efforts to preserve the environment and combat climate change. To become a main actor in the green economy, Gabon is banking on forest pre servation, domestic transformation of timber and the development of agri culture, fishing, aquaculture and ecotourism.
In Equatorial Guinea, government's concerns about natural resource conser vation have to do with the creation of four types ofprotected areas: national parks, natural monuments, scientific reserves and natural reserves (Law No.
4/2000). The concept of a protected landscape is enshrined in Law No.3/2007 governing the environment. There are other national laws like
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No. 7/2003 of 27 November 2003 regulating the Environment in Equatorial Guinea and Law No. 4/2000 on protected areas, etc.